The Price of Compromise
by Heachan
Summary: Relena and Hilde are taken as a ransom for the plans for Wing Zero. Yeah for blowing things up.^-^ This is the last story of the Trilogy.(just have to mention that incase they get out of order.
1. Unknown attack on civilians

*The Price of Compromise*  
Disclaimer: Yeah, everyone already knows I don't own these characters. Wishful thinking. The only people I own on this story are the nameless bad guys. Basically I didn't want to give them lamo names so you just don't know who they are.  
  
It was the year After Colony 195 when their worlds came together. Things hadn't started out the best way but gradually it became better. At first glance they were from completely different worlds and could never have any understanding of the other. But now things had changed. They now had a similar goal, to maintain peace in this world. Even if they had their own ways of accomplishing that and didn't always agree in their differences, they still cared for each other in some way.   
  
She knew it long before he did, but over the years their feelings were made clear. Since the day they met, they felt that they had some special bond. He knew he had to protect her because she was a key to peace becoming a reality. She always wanted to be closer to him, always wanting to be stronger like him. Sometimes it was the other way around and he wanted to be stronger like her and she would worry about his safety. After all they had been through, all the hard times that war brings with it, they managed to grow closer. They realized that they really did have something in common all along. It was the same goal. They had help build a world of peace and now had the chance to truly enjoy it.  
**@--**   
"Are you serious?" Sally asked, standing up from her chair. A silent nod was the response from across the desk. A wide smile crossed her face at the news she had just heard.  
  
"Well have they decided on the date yet or anything else?" She inquired.   
"Not that I know of yet. It just happened less then ten minutes ago." Trowa explained, standing up from the chair infront of her. Sally straightened up.  
"Guess news travels fast around here." She admitted still smiling. He headed for the doorway.  
  
"Well I've got to get back to work, just thought you'd like to know about that." He finished their conversation quickly. Sally continued to stand there thinking about this new development.  
  
"Talk about making hasty decisions." She thought outloud, looking back down at the papers on her desk. She was following up on this recent Splinter group problem. Heero claimed that they weren't going to be a problem anymore, however they had already underestimated them. She decided to send Wufei back to the area, they had just come from, to investigate. He wasn't very happy about that but she really didn't care. By the time she finished typing up her report, he had returned. He walked in and took a seat. Duo came in shortly after him, holding the file she needed for her report.  
  
"You back already?" He noticed Wufei sitting there.  
"I didn't waste any time while I was there." He said curtly.   
"So what did you find? Are they still a threat?" Sally asked, interrupting their conversation. Wufei turned his attention back to her.  
"Considering that there wasn't anybody there, I'd have to say that they aren't much of anything now." He informed her. She sat back, satisfied with his answer.  
"Was there anything there? Any equipment?" She asked.   
"They left the computers but that might have to do with the fact that someone deleted all their information." He added, glancing back at Duo. He just shrugged and leaned forward to hand Sally her file.  
  
"Yeah, they really don't like you now." Wufei mentioned to him.  
"Oh well, I didn't think they would. But it's not like I care what they think about me." Duo remarked and left the room. Sally grinned slightly to herself. She placed her report inside the folder and stood to leave as well.  
"So long as they are no longer a problem for us." She ended the meeting.  
  
(Two months later)  
  
Relena sat at the kitchen table in the small apartment, looking over the magazine infront of her. It was one of those bridal magazines. She casually flipped from page to page, eyeing each one. Next to the stove, Hilde was preparing them some tea. Once she was finished, she headed over to the table, a mug in each hand. She sat down next to Relena and looked along side her at the pictures. Relena stopped flipping the pages suddenly and pointed at one particular dress.  
  
"I like that one." She declared proudly. Hilde leaned in farther and nodded her approval. She pointed to a bridesmaid dress and smiled.  
"That's pretty." She pointed out and Relena smiled back. Relena had decided that since Noin and Hilde were both married, she was just going to have two matrons of honor. Her other two bridesmaids were Dorothy and Catherine. She asked Sally if she wanted to be part of the ceremony but she had declined. She knew she'd be too busy to worry about all the details anyway. But she would definitely be at the wedding.  
  
As far as ushers and the best man, she decided to let Heero handle that part. The only competition seemed to be between Quatre and Duo for the best man position. Trowa didn't seem to care so much whether he was in it or not. He had heard enough about the excitement from Catherine. He also wasn't going to 'kiss up' to Heero for a spot in the ceremony. He didn't want to get much attention anyway. Zechs had mentioned something about wanting to be the best man, however Relena wanted him to walk her down the aisle. There wasn't anyone else she could think of anyway. Once he knew that's what she wanted he dropped the best man idea. He seemed happy to have the responsibility. They had had a strange relationship and weren't very close. Noin told her later that he did appreciate it. The two girls continued to laugh and talk cheerfully as they perused the rest of the magazine. The front door opened, causing them to peer out into the living room.  
  
"Well you do remember he did try to shoot you when you first met. Twice." Quatre was telling Heero as they walked in. Duo shut the door behind him and rolled his eyes.  
  
"Oh sure bring that up. If you're gonna go that far then I guess it's safe to say you tried to kill him with Wing Zero." He mentioned. Heero looked irritated by the conversation. Relena couldn't help but smile at the glance he shot her way.  
  
"Are you two still at it?" Hilde asked as they headed into the kitchen. Duo bent over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Then he looked over at Quatre.  
"He started it." He remarked.  
"I'm just concerned about what's best here. I mean Duo could lose the ring or something bad like that." Quatre defended himself. Duo glared in his direction.  
"Yah know, Wing Zero's more threatening than one guy with a gun." He brought back the conversation from before.   
"Grrr." Heero finally let everyone know he was getting tired of this. They all looked at him, waiting for some kind of explanation.  
  
"And I tried to kill both of you as well as Relena at one point, so everyone here is even. Find another topic." He decided, heading over to sit next to Relena.  
"Well actually we're not all even, I never tried to kill anyone." Hilde reminded them. Duo let out a laugh and tried desperately to contain it. She looked over at him.  
"Hey I didn't say anything, did I?" He smiled even more.   
  
There was a brief moment of silence, which Relena quickly broke.  
"Heero? What do you think of this dress?" She asked showing him the page from before. He looked it over and nodded.  
"I'm not sure why you want my opinion on it though. Anything you wear is okay." He told her. He didn't really mean it in as a compliment but didn't bother to explain, considering it seemed to make her smile. He was trying that alot lately; trying to determine what made her happy.  
  
"That's so sweet." She leaned against his shoulder, still holding the magazine. He just closed his eyes and didn't say anything back. Suddenly the phone rang and Hilde got up to answer it. She wasn't on long. She turned to Heero and Relena.   
  
"That was something about your invitations? They're apparently done so you can go pick them up." She informed them.  
  
"I guess I can go pick them up." Relena offered, closing her magazine and placing it   
on the table. Before she even took a step towards the door, Heero stopped her.  
"We can go get them. It's okay." He decided, implying the other two former Gundam pilots also in the room.  
  
"Are you sure? You just got back." She reminded him. He shook his head.  
"I've got some other places to go anyway, so it's not a problem." He explained, heading for the door. The other two followed.  
"Guess we'll see you around dinner." Duo mentioned. The two girls heard the front door close and went back to what they were doing before.   
  
"So have the both of you decided where you're going for your honeymoon?" Hilde asked, holding her mug with both hands. Relena shook her head, causing her hair to fall over her shoulders.  
  
"He won't tell me where we're going. I guess he wants it to be a surprise." She replied. Hilde shrugged and smiled back.  
"Nothing wrong with surprises I guess. So long as it's not somewhere boring. But I'm sure he'll take you somewhere nice. Away from work." She sat back in her chair.  
"Oh, it'd better be far away from work." Relena answered, placing her elbows on the table. There was the sound at the front door that caught both of their attention. Hilde stood up first, poking her head out the kitchen door.  
  
"There's no way they're back already." She mentioned. A sudden slamming at the door caused Hilde to jump. It was followed by another one. Hilde's eyes grew wider. Relena leaned forward in her chair.  
"What's going on?" She asked, trying to get Hilde's attention. Hilde finally turned to her and she realized how worried Hilde looked. The door was thrown off its hinges and several men came into the living room, all of them armed. Hilde ran back into the kitchen.   
  
"We have to get out of here." She said a little above a whisper to Relena. They decided to hide under the table. They could hear the men going upstairs. Hilde was trying to figure where the closest gun would be available. Hers was upstairs though, in her nightstand. She looked out to see if the coast was clear for them to get out the front door. Suddenly she was pulled up.  
  
"Found her!" The soldier yelled. She tried to pull away but couldn't. Relena let out a small gasp when she realized what happened. She quickly covered her mouth, hoping she wasn't heard. More soldiers came downstairs, loudly. The soldier who caught Hilde, grinned maliciously.  
  
"We said we wouldn't leave you alone." He mentioned. She realized this was the Splinter Group from before. The same one who had stolen files from the Preventers on Wing Zero and who had taken Heero when they didn't have the information on the Zero system. Why hadn't the Preventer's done a better job tying up this loose end? They had been so wrong about this group. She tried to kick at the soldier but he just tightened his grip around her arms. She knocked over a light as she desperately fought against him. She stopped when someone else came into the room. An older man, that she didn't recognize came in, his expression stern.  
  
"Well done. I'm getting tired of having to deal with the former Gundam Pilots so this seems the only way to get what I want." He said to the soldier. Hilde felt something hit the back of her head. She didn't have time to react. The soldier let her fall to the floor. He looked back toward the kitchen.   
  
"Oh and one more thing." He said to the older man, causing him to turn back. Relena remained where she was, quietly. She held her breath and stayed as still as possible. There was no sound of anyone coming her way. The silence continued for what seemed like several minutes. She started to become on edge. Suddenly she heard them coming closer to her. Their black boots appeared next to the table. She gripped harder on her skirt. The soldier finally bent down and pulled her out from under the table. She grabbed onto the table causing the cups on it to spill over and the magazine to slide off. She made him angry and he roughly took hold of her. He forced her out into the living room, where everyone else was.  
  
"Well isn't this an added bonus." The older man observed, a grim smile spread across his face. "This will definitely end in a most interesting way now won't it?" The soldier was about to hit her as well but the older man shot him such a look that stopped him.  
  
"Now, now. That's no way to treat the Vice Foreign Minister of the Sanq Kingdom. She's a very influential person." He explained. Relena stopped struggling against the soldier when she heard that.  
  
"He's not going to stand for this. You do understand that." She said boldly. The older man just smiled even more. "That will make things all the more interesting. I know exactly how he'll react. We have a history afterall." He explained, causing her to stare at him in shock. He turned away from her.  
  
"We better get going. Wouldn't want any unexpected visitors to show up while we're still here." He told the others. One soldier picked Hilde up and they left the house. The older man placed a note on the kitchen table. 


	2. The empty apartment

***@---***  
  
When they returned to the house, it was past five o'clock. The sun was just about to set. The door being slightly ajar was the first sign of trouble. Duo noticed this first and hurried inside.  
  
"Hilde..?" He called out. Quatre ran in as well and then Heero, who hadn't even noticed the door.   
  
"What's wrong?" Heero asked. He placed the box of invitations down on the coffee table as he took in the scene. There was a lamp knocked over. He glanced behind him to see the door was no longer connected to the wall.  
  
"Relena...?" He muttered softly. He tried to say it louder but for some strange reason he couldn't find his voice. Duo was now on a frantic search through the apartment. He kept calling for Hilde. He came down the stairs quickly, Quatre on his heels.  
  
"Someone really wrecked the upstairs." He informed Heero, catching his breath. Heero could only nod back. That actually irritated Duo.  
"Hey! This is serious." He called over to him. Heero disregarded Duo and headed into the kitchen. A sick feeling came over him. He knew who had been here. Quatre and Duo followed him.  
"Maybe they just went out." Quatre offered, trying to think positively. Duo smiled grimly at Quatre.  
"Yeah and they had to take the door off the wall too." His statement dripped with sarcasm. Quatre backed off. They entered the kitchen. Heero was now standing next to the table, holding the note in his hand, reading it. No one spoke while he read. His expression didn't waver at all when he was finished. He lowered his hand to his side. Duo snatched the note away and began reading it as well.   
  
To Heero Yuy-  
The letter started- " Since you have decided not to cooperate with us, we've had to take drastic measures as you now know. Despite your attempts to disrupt our plans we will continue as we feel fit to. Unfortunately that means involving civilians. If you value them then you should show up at the spaceport of this colony. Unarmed and with the stolen plans for Wing Zero as well as the Zero system. If you do not comply, we cannot guarantee their safety. We want to dissolve this situation as soon as possible."   
  
Duo tossed it back on the table, still not speaking.  
"We need to leave." He finally said, turning towards the door.  
"The note never mentioned you. You're not a factor in this." Heero said calmly, causing Duo to stop in his tracks. He grit his teeth, not turning back as he spoke.  
"Yeah, well guess they forgot this 'factor'. They got Hilde involved and that involves me." He said through his teeth. He went to leave again when Quatre grabbed him by the arm.  
  
"Duo, wait..." He started but stopped when Duo shot him such a glare that his voice got stuck in his throat. Duo's eyes flashed angrily, Quatre had never received such a look from HIM before. All he could see was anger now where before there was only concern. It was definitely the God of Death who was glaring at him now. Quatre tried to talk again.  
"We can't be too rash about this. If we don't do what they say, they could hurt Hilde and Relena." He spoke slowly. Duo's shoulders slumped and Quatre felt his arm relax. His expression changed as though he was thinking.  
"But we can't just give them what they want." He said softly, looking at the floor, sadly. Quatre let go of his arm. Heero continued to think of what to do. He looked down at the magazine from before. He stared at it for a long time before he spoke.  
"Quatre...do you still have those plans? From when Zero was first built." He finally asked, catching Quatre by surprise. He didn't look up to see his expression but he knew what it was.  
  
"Are you sure we should do that? Isn't there another way?" Quatre inquired, looking at Heero from the side. Heero looked back at him squarely and nodded.  
"We'll put a tracer in the disk and won't give them all the information. By the time they realize it's not all there, we'll have them back and know where they're hiding. It's the only thing we can do right now." He decided. Quatre tried to see some kind of emotion in Heero's eyes but couldn't find any; not even a glimpse.  
"And we're not getting the other Preventer's involved either." Heero added flatly. Quatre was surprised at that as well. He wasn't sure where his loyalties were going to be in this situation. He felt weak and obviously didn't have any control over what Heero and Duo did. He nodded slowly, still not fully agreeing with the actions they were about to take.   
  
"I've got equipment down in the basement." Duo offered, leaving the room and heading downstairs. Heero bent down to pick up Relena's magazine off the floor and placed it back on the table. Quatre picked up the two mugs, luckily they weren't broken. Neither one of them said anything. Heero picked up one of the chairs that had been knocked over. Quatre put the mugs in the sink.  
  
"I hope she's alright." Heero mentioned, looking down at the table. Quatre glanced over. This was definitely starting get to Heero, he noticed he looked sad now. Heero realized Quatre was watching him and came back to reality. "If you don't want to be part of this I understand. This could costs Duo and me our jobs as Preventers. So if you don't want to help, I won't hold it against you." He told Quatre. Quatre just shook his head.  
"No, I'll help you out." He promised, realizing he was the only one that wasn't about to snap under this stress. The phone rang causing Quatre's thoughts to vanish. Heero answered it quickly.  
  
"Guess you got our note." Came a familiar voice. It was the older man who knew so much about him. Quatre left the room. Heero assumed he was going to straighten up the other parts of the house.  
"Don't worry. I'm coming to the spaceport with your information." He admitted.  
"Good. Now that wasn't so hard was it? Now I won't have to worry about furthering this situation. I have a strict policy against hurting women. It doesn't seem very kind, or gentlemen-like, either." Heero forgot how much he hated to hear this guy talk. But after what he just said, Heero was glad he had gotten to the phone before Duo had.  
  
"So then they're okay?" Heero sounded demanding.  
"They'll be okay, so long as you do your part." Came the reply. He didn't seem to want Heero to know what their current state was.  
"You guys sure don't play fair, that's for sure." Heero heard Duo's voice on the line. He had apparently picked up at some point. He walked into the kitchen with a portable phone and tossed two semi-automatics on the table as well as extra ammunition. Heero just looked at him, waiting to see what he was going to say to this guy. Probably whatever he wouldn't dare say.  
  
"I'm assuming this is one of the other Gundam Pilots?" The man said. Duo grinned slightly.  
"You guessed right. So why don't you and your dumb group forget about the women and deal with us straight." He suggested as he met Heero's gaze. The man began laughing. The two pilots exchanged glances, both of them narrowing their eyes.  
"This MUST be Duo Maxwell I'm talking to." Came the calm response from the other end of the phone.  
"Hey you're pretty good at this guessing game. Want to go for the grand prize and guess how you managed to piss me off so well today?" He answered casually.  
"Oh I think I already know that. You can just consider it pay back for what you did to our computer systems. Thought you were soo funny didn't you? Well you certainly are paying for it now." Duo gave Heero a nervous look.   
  
"Or should I say someone else is paying for it now." Heero knew that statement was going to cost this guy later. The same flash of anger from before crossed Duo's face. He balled his fist at his side, no longer looking at Heero.  
"If you lay one hand on her, you'll seriously regret it." He warned, his voice low and threatening. The man laughed lightly again.  
"And what are you going to do, lock me up? Do you really think that'll work?" He mocked, knowing that they were both Preventer's and that's as far as they were able to go. He continued to laugh at his joke.  
  
"Actually I was thinking more along the lines of killing you. I mean I'd probably loose my job but that's alright. I've got other things I'm good at." Duo said with a hint of insanity in his voice. It was enough to make the man uncomfortable. Heero finally cut back into the conversation.  
  
"I already told you I'd handle this. You're not needed." Heero said, glaring at Duo. Duo looked at him in shock. The man now chuckled lightly when Heero said that.  
"What are you talking about? I thought..." Duo started but Heero cut him off.  
"Get off the phone, Duo." Heero warned. He quickly received the same death glare Quatre got before. Heero considered that Duo could probably become quite a threat in spite of how angry he was right now. And he could tell Duo was considering the same thing from the look he was giving him. It even made Heero feel somewhat uncomfortable. That rarely happened. There was a moment of silence. Heero suddenly mouthed to him: "You're not helping her now." Duo nodded solemnly and turned off his phone and left again.  
  
"Now as much fun as this is, I have some information I need to look up." Heero said, letting the guy know that they were the only two on the phone now.  
"Alright, we'll meet you at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the east gate." The man informed him.  
"Very well, you better bring them with you." Heero warned. The man laughed again. "You don't seem too worried about them. Especially the Vice Foreign Minister. I hear the two of you are engaged. Quite interesting. You don't need to be concerned about my part. You just be sure to give us all the information we need. Until then we'll be enjoying the ladies' company." He said, causing all sorts of questionable things to go though Heero's mind.  
  
"Like Duo said, if you want to continue breathing, you won't do anything to them." He said, keeping his voice low so no one in the house could hear him.   
"Just do your part. Do that and their safety if assured." And with that the conversation ended. Duo entered the kitchen again with more 'toys' from the basement. He started to load one of the guns. Heero picked up on of the grenades. Duo refused to look at him. Heero decided it was best for him to speak up first.  
"I'm sorry about that." He started, then waited for a reply from Duo.  
"You really aren't going to want to talk to me right now. I'm starting to get irrational." Duo said in a low tone, not looking up from what he was doing. Heero sighed to himself. He took a seat and started to help load their weapons.  
"Is this going to be enough?" He asked Duo. He didn't get a response this time. Heero continued to wait. "So now you're not going to talk to me at all. That's fine." He said. Duo looked up at him finally.  
  
"He said they would be enjoying their company. I can only guess what he meant by that." He mentioned, revealing that he had still been listening even when Heero thought he wasn't. He didn't respond at that point and just let the matter drop. Although bringing that phrase back to Heero's mind made him realize how angry he was as well. The idea of anyone hurting 'his' Relena made him just as irrational. He forced himself to focus on the task. He started loading the weapons faster. He remembered how they treated him when he was captured. He couldn't bare it if they did anything like that to her. Duo interrupted his thoughts again.  
  
"Don't you have some information to get." He said, not looking up again.  
"Hmm..." Heero stood up and headed for the living room where the computer was. He buted it up and located the Preventer's system. He had to hack into their private files in order to get the information. Quatre was now upstairs, cleaning up. Heero was glad he wasn't down there now. He knew most of the codes already so it wasn't so hard getting into the locked files. The ironic part was Hilde was the one who set up this security grid. They didn't even know they had the one person who was most equipped for hacking into this system. 


	3. Betraying the Preventers

***@---***  
  
Meanwhile on the Preventer's ship, an alarm came up on Trowa's screen at his desk. He turned in his chair to get a better look.  
"Not again." He thought out loud, quickly reaching for the keyboard. He was trying to stop the hacker from getting too far into the system. 'This guy's good.' He noticed, continuing to type hastily. Sally came in a couple minutes later.  
"What's going on?" She asked him, seeing he was working so hard. She had also noticed the alarm going off.  
  
"Someone's hacking our system again. I'm not sure how they managed to get this far without us knowing about it." He explained. She wasn't expecting such a thorough explanation from him when he was obviously so busy. He cussed under his breath. She went over to see what was causing his sudden anxiety.  
  
"They managed to get into our locked files. Could this be the same group from before?" She asked him. He continued to type faster and didn't answer right away.  
"No, they weren't this clever and didn't know anything about the new system here. Plus Duo sabotaged their computers so there's no way they could access us like this." He mentioned, trying hard to not get so unglued.  
"Well someone must know our system pretty well in order to get so far. Can you trace where they are?" She asked him. He moved the mouse with one hand and still typed with the other.  
  
"I'll try. Heero's better at this then I am though." He told her. She straightened up suddenly.   
"Who would know our systems the best?" She asked him curiously. He actually glanced up at her for a moment.  
"Well I'd have to say Lady Une because she's the head of the department and has to know the entire system. Then there's Hilde, cause she installed it and set up the security grid. And then Heero cause he helped with the installment too." She could definitely tell that he was concentrating too much on the task at hand, considering how much she was getting out of him.  
"But only Heero would know where to really go in order to find the Zero files." She brought to light, picking up his phone.  
"I don't think that he'd have any reason to do something like this." Trowa added.  
"Well see if you can get a trace on this hacker. I'm going to call him at Duo and Hilde's to see if he can help." She explained punching in the number.   
  
***@---***  
  
The phone rang loudly in the small apartment. Duo was about to pick it up when he heard Heero yell from the other room.  
"Don't answer it! It's probably Sally. They already know that I'm getting into the system." He ordered. Duo walked into the living room.  
"If we don't answer it, she's going to suspect something IS going on." He told him. Heero let out an exasperated sigh and nodded once.  
"Fine but don't say anything to let her know what's going on." He warned Duo.  
"Yeah right like I'd do something like that." He mumbled, going back to the kitchen and grabbed the phone off the hook.  
  
"Hello?" He called into it. He couldn't help but smile when Sally answered back.  
"Hey Duo, why'd it take you so long to get to the phone?" She asked him.  
"Oh, well I just got in the door when I heard it ringing. What's going on?" He said casually. He hated resorting to lying to her but it was all he could do.  
"Is Heero there?" She inquired, trying not to sound like it was urgent.  
"Nope, sorry. Relena and he headed out for the day. They weren't here when I got in." He lied even more. But Sally was buying it anyway.  
  
"Oh then can I talk to Hilde? Maybe she can help. We're having computer issues today." She explained. He felt a sudden pain in his chest when she mentioned Hilde's name.  
"Hilde's with Relena. Like I said, I'm not really sure where they are." He reiterated, trying desperately not to sound too down about the situation.  
"Hey maybe I can help?" He offered cheerfully.  
"That's alright. Trowa can handle the situation. You know your suppose to know where your wife is. She should let you know this stuff." She joked with him. He grit his teeth again at the realization of her joke.  
  
"Yeah, guess I'll have to work on that. Well I have some stuff I really need to get done." He said, trying to end the conversation.  
"Right, I don't want to keep you any longer. Thanks." She replied kindly.  
"Good luck with the computer problem." He said and then hung up. He let out a low sigh. "Well!?!" Heero called from the other room. Duo stomped in.  
"Oh would you hurry up with that! You're cramping my style here." He said, exasperated.   
  
"Does she suspect anything?" Heero asked. Duo shook his head.  
"No but if you don't hurry, Trowa is going to trace you and they'll know." He pointed out. Heero glanced away from the screen.  
"I had a feeling he was the one trying to stop me here." He said with a slight grin. Quatre came down the stairs quietly.  
"I cleaned up that mess for you Duo." He announced, cracking a smile. Duo nodded his response. Quatre just slipped into the kitchen. Heero noticed the tension that was still there between them.  
  
"I think you need to talk to him." He said, not looking at Duo.   
"About what?" He demanded, crossing his arms in front of his chest.  
"He's helping us out and you haven't been very nice to him. Plus the way you reacted before. He didn't deserve that either." Heero explained. Duo dropped his hands to his sides and slumped back to the kitchen. Quatre was sitting at the table looking over Duo's collection, that was all over the table.  
  
"I'm surprised you still have all this stuff." He sounded impressed. Duo pulled a chair out and turned it around, sitting in it backwards.  
"Look Quatre, you don't have to act like this around me. I'm sorry for what I did before." He apologized. Quatre met his gaze.  
"You don't have to. I can understand why you were upset. It just threw me off, that's all." Quatre said with a smile. Duo shook his head and actually smiled back.  
"I didn't think I still did that. Got that angry. And then I took it out on you and you didn't deserve it." He explained.  
  
"I remember what it's like to have something like this happen. I went through it when my dad died." He admitted. Duo just sat there and listened.  
"So you don't have to apologize. I'm okay about it." He added. Duo looked down at the floor.  
"I just want her back." He said in a low tone but Quatre heard it anyway. It sounded just like what Heero said.  
"Don't worry I think Heero's plan will work." He said confidently. Duo only nodded, going back to the weapons, lying on the table infront of him. They heard Heero in the other room. He was obviously frustrated. They headed in to see what was going on.  
  
"Is there a problem?" Duo asked, leaning over.  
"Yeah, Trowa's making this very difficult." He mentioned as he typed feverishly.  
"So you mean Trowa's the one trying to block you?" Quatre thought out loud, only receiving a solemn nod from Heero. Duo went back to the weapons, seeing that he couldn't help in there.  
  
***@---***  
  
"Have you been able to locate the hacker?" Sally inquired, sitting next to Trowa's desk. He didn't answer again which only told her that he wasn't close enough yet.  
"I need more time. This hacker is all over the place." He finally told her, exasperated. She sighed to herself and looked away.  
"We need Heero here." She admitted softly. Trowa continued to type, still not regarding Sally. "Maybe we need to close up shop for today." She added. A hint of a smile crossed Trowa's face. She noticed it and looked at the monitor.  
  
"Did you stop him?" She asked quickly, sounding somewhat excited.   
"No, but I can locate him now." He said back, typing in the request. They both sat there, waiting to get the location. Trowa continued to try to stop the 'hacker' from getting into the locked files. However it was no use. He was now in the one locked file that had just recently been created.  
  
"Check to see if we can find him now." Sally ordered Trowa. He did as she told him but they still hadn't gotten any information yet.  
"If it doesn't find the location soon, we'll never find this guy." She realized. Trowa did everything he could but the information on Wing Zero was now being accessed. Suddenly the hacker was gone. Trowa tried one more thing to see what the computer picked up. The most it had received was the area, which the hacker was in. Trowa was trying to explain it to Sally.  
  
"So what region is he in? That information can help us a little bit." She pointed out. "The signal was from the L2 area. But that's all I was able to get." He said regretingly. Sally smiled anyway.  
"Don't worry about it. You did your best." She replied encouragingly. He went back to typing.  
"Maybe I can find out more about what he stole. That might help us out." He decided going back to work. Sally stood up and left the room.  
  
***@---***   
  
Heero removed the disk from the computer and placed it in the pocket in his jacket. Quatre had retrieved the Zero System information for him from his office. He honestly had forgotten he still had it. Duo had finished setting their weapons, of course they couldn't bring all the ones he wanted to. The original agreement was for only Heero to go and to be unarmed. So they couldn't exactly come walking in 'armed to the teeth', so to speak. So Quatre was going to stay far behind them in case they needed backup. He would carry the extra ammunition and anything else they would need. Their main objection here was to get Hilde and Relena out and cause as much destruction to the group as possible. The last part was mostly Duo's idea.  
  
The other two had already established that fact that he wasn't about to let these guys off, at all. Although Heero was now regretting letting them off so easy the first two times. He was trying not to dwell on that too much. This situation could have been avoided though, if he hadn't ignored the events that led to this point. He pushed all the guilt he placed on himself away and continued to plan. The night went by slowly, no one actually slept much either. At one point Quatre got up just to see if he was the only one with insomnia. He slowly glanced downstairs and Heero was up working at the computer. He went down the hallway to the master bedroom. The door was slightly opened. He peaked in and Duo wasn't sleeping either. But he was at least attempting to. He tossed and turned, finally settling down with the pillow over his head. Quatre headed back down the hall to his room, Duo's old bedroom. Despite all three of them being awake, the house was quiet. It was the same the next day at breakfast.  
***  
"Hilde, what are you doing?" Relena asked her as she was doing something to the lock. "I am not going to just sit here waiting for the guys to save us. I'm getting out." She told Relena as she picked at the lock. "You're gonna get caught." Relena said sitting back. They had been locked in the baggage storage compartment of a shuttle. There was little light to work with. "If I figure this right, we can be out of here in fifteen minutes and make a break for it. Then we can brag about it to everyone else." Hilde said as she worked. "But that still won't make things any better. These people will still be out there. I'm worried about how Heero will react to this." Relena mentioned. There was noise coming from outside. "Someone is coming...get ready to run." Hilde told Relena. The door opened and the morning light came into the compartment. Hilde jumped out slamming her shoulder into whoever it was. Relena went to follow her but took her time getting down. They both turned to leave when two men stopped them. Hilde let the breath she was holding go and Relena glanced over at her. "Now what's the matter ladies? Don't like your quarters?" Relena caught on to who was speaking. He walked up slowly. "Now I of course expected trouble from the Gundam Pilots but not you two. Guess we'll have to keep a closer eye on you." He said leading the way inside the shuttle, the two soldiers taking the rear.  
"I thought we could all have breakfast together. The two of you should be returned to your men this evening, assuming they do what we ask them to." Hilde smirked a little. "I wouldn't count on that." She said softly but he heard it anyway. They all sat down at the table inside the shuttle. "Well yours is pretty crazy but Heero doesn't seem to want anything to happen to his fiancée" He answered smiling at Relena. She quickly turned away and looked out the window. After breakfast, the leader instructed his men to separate Hilde and Relena. That way they couldn't escape as easily. 


	4. Disobedience and Security

The time had finally arrived to leave for the spaceport. On the way there, Heero gave Quatre directions on where he should be unless they needed him. Quatre asked several questions...Ones that usually started with 'but what if'.   
  
"If things get bad, you come in and we'll have to use as much force as possible. We aren't sure how many we'll be up against anyway. Just stick to the plan." Heero explained as he drove. Duo sat in the seat next to him, silently. He never thought he would mind Duo being quiet but right now it was unnerving. Quatre came back with another question.  
"But what if they are able to capture you two as well?" Quatre said, sounding concerned.  
  
"Then you get out of there and contact the Preventers. You'll have to let them know about the entire situation at that point." Heero replied. Quatre looked down and nodded. Once again he was stuck in the middle of one of these situations. They made it to the spaceport in no time. Quatre stayed there with the truck as they headed for the East Gate, as previously instructed. There was only one shuttle near them as they looked around. No one else seemed to be there yet.  
  
"Well that's great. They force us into this trap and now they're late." Duo noted to himself.  
"Just calm down. They'll be here." Heero said over his shoulder. Duo glanced at him, crossing his arms in front.  
"You seem a little too calm if yah ask me." He said in a low tone. Heero looked back and met the glare he was getting. He closed his eyes and looked away.  
"I don't know what you're talking about." He admitted, irritating Duo.  
"Let's put it this way then. They aren't going to hurt Relena. She's too important. Hilde on the other hand is just a Preventer. Basically there's no consequence if anything happens to her." He said point blankly.   
  
"You obviously don't know anything about their objective then." Heero said glaring back over, trying to level Duo with his look.  
"It's more like they are completely for the Colony's independence. Relena can easily become a threat to their plans. While Hilde is nothing more then someone from the Colonies. They probably view her almost as someone to protect." He elaborated. Duo dropped his gaze.  
  
"That's my job." He muttered to himself. The sudden sound caused them both to look up. The door to the shuttle nearby opened and several men in uniforms came out. Once they all filed out, a familiar face appeared. Heero could feel his teeth clench as the figure came closer to them. It was the same man who tried to convince Heero to help them before. He was also the one on the phone.  
"I have this vague memory of saying for only you to come. And here we are with the two of you." The older man addressed Heero. He glanced back at Duo.  
"I couldn't stop him from coming." He lied, turning back. The man crossed his arms in front of himself.  
  
"Well now I don't know if this will work. You aren't following the rules. This might be a problem." He said, trying to get a rise out of Heero. He seemed to enjoy seeing how he'd react. There was a slight flicker of anger in Heero's eyes but it diminished quickly. He wasn't going to let this guy have his way.  
"Let's just get this over with. Where are they?" He demanded, pulling the disk out of his pocket. The man grinned wickedly when he saw the disk. He quickly motioned to one of the soldier's to go back to the shuttle. Duo's gaze left the man and went towards the shuttle.  
  
"Now how do I know that this information is accurate?" The man asked casually.   
"You can check it here if you want." Heero answered absentmindedly. One of the soldier's went over to Heero and retrieved the disk from him. He went into the shuttle as well in order to check it.  
  
"There better not be anything on that disk that could cause problems." The older man warned Heero and then glanced over at the other Gundam pilot and grinned.  
"We have afterall, already had problems with a certain little God of Death." He narrowed his eyes at Duo. Duo leveled him as he returned the glare.  
"Little, huh? You're fortunate if you don't see me in action. But you might live long enough to see it." Came another crazy threat. Heero shook his head. There was no point in stopping Duo. He even wished he was in a position to threaten them. Although Duo wasn't really in one either but didn't seem to care. A couple of soldiers went towards Duo, all of them waiting for him to make a move. He just casually stuck his hands in his pockets.   
  
"Well he's an interesting one. Guess we didn't get to know about this pilot as much as we did about you. Seems like your not the only loose cannon that was involved in Operation Meteor." The older man said to Heero who simply turned away. The soldier that left earlier with the disk came out and walked over to his boss.  
"Well?" He asked, turning to the soldier. He handed him the disk before speaking.  
"It's all there. Even the plans for the Zero system." He informed him.  
"Very good." The older man said, placing the disk inside his jacket.   
  
He looked back at Heero, who was hiding his anxiety very well. "A wise decision." He added.  
"Now, for your part." Heero answered in his usual monotoned way. The man let out a small laugh. It irritated the two pilots which was its purpose. He continued to smile at them for a few seconds before finally saying:  
"Of course." He grinned even more. The door to the shuttle opened as soon as he finished his statement. Heero felt his breath stop suddenly. He couldn't remember being this anxious before. Another soldier emerged carrying Hilde. He didn't seem to be very careful with her. Duo wanted to push forward and take her away but he just stood where he was. His legs didn't seem to be working anyway. She was unconscious and had a couple of bruises and scratches. That was all but it was enough to make Duo's anger flare up again. At the same time he felt weak, seeing the state she was in. The soldier stopped a few feet away from him and tossed her roughly at him. Her limp body almost didn't make it to him. He moved quickly to keep her from slumping to the ground. Her head rested heavily on his shoulder. He gave the leader one final glare before turning to leave. He wasn't leaving for good though. He'd come back as soon as he brought her to the truck. He continued to eavesdrop on the conversation as he walked off.  
  
"What about Relena?" Heero demanded, becoming impatient. The man continued to smile back at him.  
"I've actually enjoyed having her as a guest and find that the separation would just be too emotional for me." He explained. Heero could feel his anger rising in his throat.  
"Where is she." He said slowly, in a threatening voice.  
"She's not even here. I didn't want you to think you could get them both back before I put my plan into order. Once things are moving smoothly again, I'll let her go." He promised, his soldiers standing by, waiting for Heero to react. They had managed to set him up again. He was powerless in this situation.   
  
Back at the truck, Quatre hurried to get out when he saw Duo coming his way. He wondered where Heero was. Duo gently handed Hilde to him then went to the back of the truck, rummaging through their supplies.  
"What are you going to do?" Quatre asked, still holding Hilde close to him.  
"This guy is seriously asking for trouble and now that I've got her back, he's gonna get some." He answered picking up the rather large bazooka. Quatre's eyes grew wide.  
"But what about Relena?" It was his last attempt to get Duo to think straight.  
"As it turns out they didn't even bring her. They've been playing Heero like they did before. So I'm sure he'll want to help cause some damage along with me." Duo added, glancing down at Hilde. He quickly brushed her bangs off her face.  
"Take care of her. I shouldn't be too long." He said, focusing back on their mission. Quatre nodded and put her inside the cab. Duo headed back in the direction he just came from.   
  
"This could become much worse then it is now." Quatre said to himself. He headed back into the cab and closed the door. There was going to be an explosion, he was certain of that.  
"You don't seem to understand, she was part of the agreement. Now where is she?" Heero said, trying not to sound like he was becoming irrational like he knew he was.  
"I already told you, she's not here. Now if you'd like to come and help us with our plan we'll consider letting you see her. How's that sound?" The man offered. Heero didn't answer him. He was the first to notice a missile coming towards the shuttle. He turned his back quickly as it exploded, causing everyone to scatter. Heero coughed from the smoke. One of the soldiers helped the leader up off the ground. He angrily looked to where the missile had come from. Duo grinned as he moved the bazooka away from his face.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry was that YOUR shuttle?" He asked sarcastically. He couldn't help but smile considering how nice it felt to blow something up again. Two soldiers near Heero went for their guns but he leg-swept them before they had a chance to fire. A couple more started to react to the sudden attack and he went after each of them, knocking them over the head. Now the numbers were beginning to be in their favor. Duo put the bazooka down and ran over now holding the semi-automatic, he had on him the entire time. Heero also had his gun out now too. They both got behind some debris while the remaining soldiers continued to fire at them. On occasion, they would return fire.  
  
"Why did I bring you again?" Heero yelled over to Duo.  
"Cause you wouldn't have gone this far, that's why." Was the response. "But at least I left you some action." He added.  
"Not much." Heero mentioned as he reloaded his gun. Despite their threats, they weren't aiming to kill this time. Finally the shooting stopped and they finished up with the soldiers. Duo made it to the leader first as one of the remaining soldiers went after him. He just punched the guy, not giving it much thought.  
"Well how unfortunate for you." He said to the leader. "What was that you called me before? Little and a loose cannon." He smirked at the poetic justice of this circumstance. Heero walked over.  
  
"Don't you dare." He told Duo, bending down and pointing his gun in the older man's face. A wave of panic came over him. Heero's expression remained the same.  
"Where is she?" He said one final time. The man began to tremble but it didn't effect Heero at all. Heero cocked his gun and glared even more, showing how angry he was becoming. He narrowed his eyes.  
  
"So who's suppose to be controlling me now?" He said in a somewhat joking manner. Considering all this man had done both of the former Gundam pilots deserved some fasecious comments. Now the older man realized that the Preventer's had nothing to do with the attack, at this point. Duo looked around to see if any of the soldiers were going to be a problem for them now. After surveying the area, he knew they weren't. The man still wasn't able to answer.   
"Maybe we should just take him in. He's wasting our time." Duo muttered to Heero. Heero thought about it but his thoughts quickly went back to Relena. Suddenly there was the sound of another gun cocking behind the two of them.  
  
"That's enough you two!" They both recognized Sally's voice. She sounded very angry. They probably had never heard her take that tone of voice with them before. They both turned around slowly. Yes, she was actually pointing a gun at them. Trowa stood behind her as well as Quatre. Heero stood up but neither Duo or he dropped their guns. She continued to glare at the both of them.  
"Please don't make me shoot you." She finally said. Duo nervously put his down and Heero decided it was for the best. "Trowa, handcuff the leader, and you two come with me now." She demanded, putting her gun away. Trowa did as she told him to. As Heero and Duo followed her, Quatre looked down, trying not to make eye contact with them. Heero paused briefly before walking by.  
  
"What did you do, Quatre?" He asked and expected a response.  
"They just showed up here, honest. They traced you before." He explained defensively. Heero simply nodded and continued behind Duo. They went over to where they had parked the truck. There was another vehicle there as well. It was probably what the other two Preventer's came in. Sally leaned up against their truck trying to decide how to start this.  
  
"Were you really planning on shooting us?" Duo asked, not giving her time to think. She looked down and sighed loudly.  
"I don't know what I would have done. I figured I'd let the other guy think you were in big trouble though." She answered, not sounding angry. Duo smiled, a bit relieved.  
"Oh, that's a relief. I thought we were in deep when you showed up." He said calming down. She shot him a glare.  
"You're still in trouble." She said flatly. His nervous expression returned once she mentioned that. She glanced in the back of the truck, then at them.  
"And exactly where did you get all these weapons?" She asked, crossing her arms infront of her. Heero finally spoke up at that point.  
"They're Duo's." He answered bluntly. Duo dropped his head. He didn't want to tell her so quickly. She raised an eyebrow at him.  
  
"I've had them forever. This just seemed like the appropriate time to get them out." He explained. Her expression grew darker.  
"You know that as Preventers you can't kill and aren't suppose to use weapons like this." She said as if quoting some handbook.  
"Well today we weren't acting as Preventers. These guys didn't come after the Preventers, they came after us, personally." Heero told her, his tone threatening again. He was obviously still on edge. She shook her head sadly.  
  
"That doesn't matter though. You even stole information from us." She reminded him.  
"You mean information that was mine to begin with. We still don't know where Relena is so we really don't have time for this." He added, as though he was ending the conversation. He started walking back to where they had just come from. She went to stop him but he was already out of reach. She looked down, not knowing what to do now. Duo opened to door to the cab of the truck to see if Hilde was awake yet. She seemed to be getting there. He turned back to Sally.  
  
"Look Sally, as Preventers, we let these guys get away twice. If you look at it from their point of view, they felt that they could push us around. They assumed that, since Preventers aren't suppose to do all this stuff, we're easy targets." He said, trying to conclude his side of the conversation also.  
"But where do you draw the line then? When is it okay to kill and not okay?" She asked, still upset with what they had done. He was about to answer but stopped. He wasn't sure what to say.  
  
"Mmm...Duo?" Hilde said quietly, catching his attention. He leaned back inside the cab.  
"Yeah, I'm right here." He told her and was suddenly greeted as she hugged him around the waist. He had to quickly catch his balance. "Guess you're happy to see me." He said jokingly. She didn't say anything in response, which was odd for her. It actually scared him a bit.  
"Did they hurt you?" He asked seriously. She shook her head.  
"No, they locked Relena and me up and never bothered with us after that. They just pushed us around alot, but that's all." She told him. He sighed in relief.   
  
"Don't worry, we're going home soon." He promised her then turned back to Sally.  
"I don't know the answer to your question. But this seemed like one of those situations. We didn't draw the line here. And we didn't kill anyone either, which says something about us." He explained and Sally actually nodded back as though she agreed. He usually wasn't this serious and that alone said alot. Sally walked over to where Trowa and Quatre were. Heero was talking to Trowa while Quatre was handcuffing whoever was able to walk.  
"I still think there was a better way." Trowa said to Heero as he picked up the semi-automatic and put the strap over his shoulder. He picked up Heero's gun as well.  
"There didn't seem to be any other way. Now are you going to let me talk to this jerk or what? I still need to find Relena." He explained, waiting for Trowa to get out of his way.  
  
"I already talked to him." Trowa said back.  
"He won't tell you anything. You pretty much have to scare it out if him." Heero replied.  
"She's at the South Gate." Trowa started. "There was another shuttle over there. Guess they were anticipating this." Heero was surprised Trowa found out so much. He put his hand out, waiting for Trowa to give him his gun back.  
"I think you can handle this without it." Trowa added walking away. Heero went towards the South Gate. Sally walked up to Trowa once he was finished talking with Heero.  
"Where's he headed?" She asked, not sure what to expect anymore.  
"I assumed you already knew that information." Trowa answered and went back to work. She knew what he was talking about.  
  
***@---***  
  
Heero ran as fast as he could in order to get to the other gate. When he got there, there was luckily only one shuttle there waiting to take off. He headed right for it and smashed the door down, causing everyone inside to stand up. There were three soldiers in there. Heero recognized two of them as the soldiers who were so abusive to him before. The first guy that he came in contact with wasn't much of a challenge at all. Although with such an important mission right now, there could have been twenty guys and it wouldn't have made a difference. The second two were more of a problem. They both used guns but he managed to dodge their shots. Once he got close enough, he knocked the guns out of their hands and eventually knocked them out. He handcuffed the three unconscious soldiers before moving on. He went to the front of the shuttle.  
  
"Relena?" He called out, waiting for some kind of response. But there was nothing. He came to another door that was locked. He rammed his shoulder into it and eventually smashed it in. He walked down the aisle slowly checking each seat he passed. Suddenly he caught sight of someone, all the way in the front. He quickly got there and sure enough it was Relena. Her hair covered most of her face. She looked so peaceful, laying there asleep. He bent down to pick her up. He left the shuttle to find the two trucks now parked outside. Duo jumped out of the one cab while Trowa casually got out of the other truck.  
  
"There's three in there. I already took care of them though." He informed Trowa. He noticed Sally sitting in her truck along with Quatre.  
"I was coming to help but guess you didn't need me." Duo mentioned, walking past him towards the shuttle. He regarded Relena.  
"She gonna be alright?" He asked, looking back at Heero.  
"Yeah." Was all the response he received. He went up the stairs and Trowa followed close behind. Heero just stood next to the truck and waited for them to return. He wasn't sure what kind of measures Sally was going to take when they got back. Inside the shuttle, Duo pulled one guy out while Trowa swung the other two over his shoulders.  
  
"It would appear that we're starting a collection here." He said as they left.  
  
"Yeah, we might actually run out of room for them all." Duo answered jokingly. They put the three remaining soldiers in the back of Sally's truck. Duo glanced in the back of the truck that Heero and he had come in. All his weapons were gone. He shot a look Sally's way and she simply shrugged back.  
  
"Guess I'll be lucky if we get off that easily." He muttered to himself as he got in the driver's side. He slid in next to Hilde and reached over her to get the passenger door opened. Heero climbed in, being careful with Relena. He shut the door and put her on the seat in between Hilde and himself. Hilde had apparently gone back to sleep. Sally didn't follow them back to the apartment, which was kind of strange, considering that there were still things that had to be discussed. But it could always wait until tomorrow. Heero carried Relena and Duo had Hilde on his back so he could open the door. The two pilots entered the now dark apartment, quickly finding the lightswitch. Duo headed upstairs and Heero remained down in the living room. They didn't see each other for the rest of the night. Heero made sure that the front door was locked before turning off the lights for the evening. 


	5. Actions resulting in suspension

Hilde stretched her legs out as she started to wake up. Her toes reached the end of the sheets. She could feel the cool night air. It was still dark outside. She felt so comfortable and safe. She was curious what time it was. She opened her eyes but couldn't see anything that was defining about where she was. She tried to move and then remembered. She looked up and there was Duo, he was sleeping peacefully. He held her close, she could only imagine what the past forty-eight hours had been like for him and Heero. She moved in closer, trying to get back to sleep. She felt Duo shift his weight.  
  
"You okay?" She heard him say in what was one of the most serious tones he'd ever used.   
  
"Yeah, how about you?" She asked back, she hadn't looked up at him yet. "I've gotten more sleep tonight then I did last night." He answered with a sigh.   
  
"Yeah me too." Hilde agreed finally looking up to meet his gaze. In the dark she could make out his face. He didn't take his eyes off her. She brought her hand up to pull a strain of hair behind his ear. Duo leaned into her neck and let out another sigh.  
"Let's not have any more of these situations. It's not good for my health." He said softly in her ear. She smiled and leaned up to his ear as well.  
  
"Sounds good to me." She answered him, pulling her other arm around him. "I'm sorry for all of this." She said. There was a long moment of silence, in which she thought that he might have been sleeping. Then she felt his entire body begin to shake. She moved away some.   
"Duo…?" If it had been any one else she would assumed he was crying but that was unlikely. She felt his breathing finally start to go back to normal.  
  
"Are you okay?" She asked, pulling him closer to her and brushing his bangs out of his face. There was silence again.  
  
"That guy…he was such a jerk. He implied so much, just to be cruel. It hurt so much. The idea of anything happening." He explained. Hilde looked at him.  
  
"It's over now though." She said back. His facial expression stayed the same though. "Something happened didn't it." She said softly. He looked away from her. "I stopped myself before I did anything too drastic." He mentioned closing his eyes. She suddenly moved away from him in order to sit up. "Duo what happened? Please tell me." Her eyes pleaded to him so that he finally broke down. He told her everything that had happened in the past two days. How he almost lost control of his temper with Heero and even Quatre. How he had to lie to Sally on the phone. And how he blew up the one shuttle and Heero and him almost killed the leader of the group. And finally how Sally had to stop them. Once he was finished, there was silence. He looked down and balled his fists up. He finally felt her hand on his back. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "It's okay, Duo." She said comforting. He leaned down, wrapping his arms around her waist. She pushed his hair off his back and rubbed her hands between his shoulder blades. He just let out another long sigh before falling asleep.   
  
*The Price of Compromise*  
  
*Part 2*  
  
The next morning, Relena was reluctant to open her eyes, unsure of where she was. She was afraid of waking up in unfamiliar surroundings. Although wherever she was, it seemed peaceful and she was warm. When she finally opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Heero. He was sitting next to her with his arms crossed over his chest and his head down. She had her arms around him. She smiled, comforted by his presence, even though he was sleeping. She glanced around and noticed they were in the apartment, on the couch. No one else was in the room with them. She leaned her head against his arm again, causing him to open his eyes. She smiled up at him. He actually returned the smile.  
  
"You okay?" He asked, unfolding his arms and placing one around her shoulders. She moved in closer to him.  
"I'm alright." She replied softly. She closed her eyes then opened them again, not looking at anything in particular.  
"Are things always going to be like this?" She mentioned sadly. He glanced down at her, not sure what she meant.  
"Why can't everyone just except things as they are. Are you always going to have to rescue me?" She added, now looking at him.  
"Maybe. I'm not sure." He answered in a low tone. "But it's not like I mind it though. I would like for things to get to the point where we don't have to worry about this kind of stuff. I don't know if that will ever happen." She continued to look at him sadly. He hated it when she looked like that.  
  
"I just want you to know what you're getting into." She told him. That caught him by surprise but he quickly dismissed the comment.  
"Yeah, well I'm not the easiest person to live with I'm sure. I need my space sometimes. And besides all that, are you sure what you're getting into? We're talking about someone who's completely for peace and someone else who likes to threaten people. And I'm pretty set in my ways." He explained. Her expression softened and she smiled again. She could tell he was trying to make her happy.  
  
"Oh yeah, I'm not always as kind as everyone thinks I am at times. So don't think that I'm perfect or anything. And I'm used to your moodiness." She remarked, getting another smile out of him. Their gaze met and they got lost in each other's eyes. Heero was the first to speak.  
"You realize we only have about two months left." It was hard to tell if it was a question or a statement. She nodded contently when he mentioned it. A wave of excitement came over her, mostly about the planning part that would take place in that two months.  
  
"Have you decided on your best man yet?" She inquired, realizing how close the wedding actually was.  
"I've known who my best man was going to be. I just like watching the two of them compete." He admitted.  
"I thought you couldn't stand it when they do that though." She pointed out. "You always seem so aggravated when they start."  
"After a while it gets annoying but it's funny some of the things they come up with." She shook her head in disbelief.  
"That doesn't sound like you at all." She told him. He brought his other arm around to hold her closer.  
  
"Would you prefer it if I started behaving like I usually do?" He asked, looking right at her. She almost couldn't shake her head. There was another long moment of silence. Heero wasn't sure what to do at that point. He didn't want to pull away but the other option still seemed unnatural for him too. They remained like that for awhile before a voice from behind the couch brought them back to reality.  
"Oh would you just kiss her already?" Duo called out. Heero snapped his head back and Relena blushed. Heero glared at the other pilot who was smiling at his lack of accomplishment.  
  
"GO AWAY." Heero warned him finally. He didn't move from his current position on the stairs.   
"This isn't good Relena. If he's not willing to kiss you now, what's he gonna be like on the honeymoon." Duo's smile grew wider causing even Heero to blush at that point.  
"I'm changing my vote for best man now." Heero told Relena. Duo's bottom jaw dropped.  
  
"DUO! Leave them alone." Hilde yelled, now standing next to him on the stairs.  
"Aw I was just having some fun." He defended himself as she forced him down the rest of the stairs and into the kitchen. Heero shook his head, annoyed at the situation. It would seem that Duo resorted to his normal self again. He felt Relena's hand come up to his face, getting his attention.  
  
"Just ignore him." She said.  
"I use to be able to very easily." He explained. She smiled at him almost wickedly.  
"Well his invitation could always get lost in the mail." She mentioned, causing Heero to grin slightly back at her. He leaned in closer to her face.  
"I'm not entirely against the suggestion though." He said, closing his eyes. Relena wrapped her arms around his neck. A couple of moments went by and the phone rang in the kitchen. He was about to break away when Relena murmured something to him, their noses barely touching.  
  
"They can get it." She said softly. He just went back to kissing her, ignoring the phone. When they finally did break away, they decided to head into the kitchen to see what was going on.  
"Did she say anything about what it was about?" Hilde was asking Duo.  
"No, but I have a feeling what it's about though." He answered turning to see Heero and Relena enter. "That was Sally. She wants both of us at the ship now. She said it was urgent." He told Heero. There was an awkward moment of silence. Duo got up suddenly to go change. Relena looked up at Heero confused.  
  
"Did something happen?" She asked him, hoping to get a straight answer.  
"The Preventers aren't very happy with the two of us right now. That's really all I can tell you right now." He explained briefly, also going to change into his uniform.  
"We're going too then." Hilde decided once he left.  
"What are you talking about?" Relena asked, still confused at what was going on.  
"I don't know if I can tell you. All I know is that I don't feel safe here, alone." She answered sadly.  
  
***@--***  
  
The shuttle from L2 heading for the Preventer's ship left at nine o'clock that same morning. They traveled all day and arrived in the afternoon. Sally had a closed meeting with the two Preventer's that had caused so much trouble the day before. They stood infront of her desk waiting for her to officially begin the meeting. The waiting was obnoxious to say the least. They couldn't tell if she was doing it on purpose. She finally finished with the task she had been working on.  
  
"Sorry to keep you waiting." She started and stood up from her chair to come around to the front of her desk.  
"We have the entire group, responsible for yesterday's attack in custody. I'd like to think that we can just overlook the actions you two took but I don't think that's possible. I spoke to Une and Noin and explained the situation to them." Sally told them. They both waited impatiently for the conclusion.  
  
"They both feel that your actions were understandable however they cannot go without consequence. But they find the only appropriate consequence is a month's suspension." She finished causing both of them to breathe a little easier.  
"Guess we can't complain about that, can we?" Duo mentioned, relieved he still had a job despite what he said earlier. They left Sally's office afterwards and were greeted by Hilde, Relena, Quatre, and Trowa out in the hallway.   
  
"Well? What'd she say?" Quatre was the first to ask. Heero didn't say anything and Duo found this the perfect time to joke.  
"They are being soo unfair to us! I can't believe we both lose our jobs and have to pay this huge fine. I don't know where we're going to get that money." He complained loudly.  
"Wow, I didn't think she'd do that." Quatre said back sadly. Everyone else knew he wasn't telling them the truth. Quatre finally caught on when he started laughing.  
"Hey that's not funny." He mentioned but Duo kept laughing. Hilde just rolled her eyes. Heero started down the hallway and Relena followed. She hurried up to catch him, sliding her arm around his.  
  
"So what did she really say?" She asked once they were out of earshot.   
"We're suspended for a month. That's all." He stated quickly. She looked down while they walked. He glanced over waiting for her to say something.  
"I'm sorry. In some way I just feel that this is my fault." She mentioned sadly.  
"It's not. You had nothing to do with this." He told her.  
"Well it was me though who they were after this time." She pointed out. He stopped walking and turned to face her, his expression soft.  
"They would have just taken Hilde then and we would still be in the same situation. Don't blame yourself." He explained trying to make her feel better. She finally nodded in agreement.  
  
"Just think of this next month as time to get some more planning done." He added, causing her to smile back happily. He had after all been kind of distracted with work lately. He would also get to spend more time with her.  
"So did Sally tell you if they were able to get any information out of that guy who was behind this?" She asked curiously. He shook his head.  
"No and I don't think that they will. This guy knows alot more then we thought he did." They headed for one of the hangars to get back to their shuttle. There was no point staying there any longer. They both got into the shuttle.  
"So do you want to go back to L2 now or back to the Sang Kingdom?" Heero asked her as he leaned into her seat before getting into his own.  
"I don't know. Whatever you want to do is fine with me. I still have a couple of days left before I have to go back. And we don't necessarily have to go back to L2. We could go somewhere else." She answered.  
"I guess we could go somewhere else. But I don't know where." He replied.  
  
***(two hours later)  
  
"So no one has seen them since the meeting?" Hilde asked Duo as they got to their shuttle. Trowa walked silently behind them. Duo turned back to her when she said that.  
"Yeah, I guess that was the last time we saw them. I wouldn't worry though." He said back. She took a seat and nodded back.  
"He probably just took her back to earth." Trowa said before leaving the shuttle. They took off quickly after that. Once they were gone, Trowa went into Sally's office.  
"I thought you were going to be alot harder on them then that." He admitted, taking a seat infront of her. She shook her head and smiled to herself.  
"There was no way I could let them off any longer then a month. Une knew that too. And despite their insubordination, they reacted the only way that seemed right. And they didn't kill anyone afterall so that can't be held against them." She explained to him. He sat back in complete agreement with her.  
  
"And besides all that, Hilde and Relena are okay and if the Preventers had handled the situation, we might have not gotten them back so quickly. Relena is too important for us to be put in these situations. The Preventers keep getting into them with our hands tied. I don't know how we are able to deal with these people half the time. A little risk every now and then may be needed." She added.  
"It's not always an easy task I have to agree with you there. But the threats have seemed to lessen alot lately. This group had been the first problem in a while." He reminded her.   
"I hope that eventually we won't be needed at all." She mentioned.  
  
***--@(One week later)@--***  
  
Relena showed her engagement ring off to several of her friends. They all chattered happily about it. Heero bought it for her that week, when they had their little escapade. They bought a couple of things while they were supposedly missing. Heero had this sudden urge to spoil Relena. She didn't mind it. Hilde placed a large present in front of Relena, waiting for her to open it. While the engaged couple was out, Noin and she had arranged this bridal shower for her. They had decorated the apartment with balloons and everything. Meanwhile the guys were banished to the kitchen, waiting for the party to be over with.  
  
"Don't you guys even want to know what's in the presents?" Quatre asked the other four pilots who were sitting around the table. They all shook their heads indifferently. He let out a resigning sigh.  
"I don't remember there being presents at weddings anyway. If I had known that I would have had one." Duo said regretfully, leaning one elbow on the back of his chair.  
"I don't see what's the big deal anyway. Or why I had to come." Wufei said, crossing his arms.  
  
"Oh come on Wufei, it's not like you had anything better to do." Duo smirked.  
"That's what you think. I could have found something to do. Anything is better then sitting here, doing nothing." He grumbled. Duo perked up and looked over at Heero.  
"Hey why don't we have a 'guy party'?" He inquired. Heero closed his eyes and looked away.  
"I believe the technical term is a 'Bachelor party." Trowa corrected him. A devilish grin crossed Duo's face.   
"Yeah one of those. What do yah think Heero?" He said back.  
"It's alright. You don't have to do anything for me. I don't want a party. I'm not good at parties." He said flatly, hoping it would drop right there. But of course it didn't.  
  
"Why can't we have a party? They get a party. And we have to sit through it. It's not fair!" Wufei decided. Duo nodded in agreement. Heero shot an almost helpless glance Trowa's way. He just shrugged back.  
"I don't see what's wrong with having a party." He admitted. Heero stood up.  
"I DON'T want one. That's why." He ended the conversation, heading for the next room where the girls were. He figured he should see what kind of gifts he was receiving. As he entered the living room Relena was the first to see him coming. She held up one of their gifts.  
"Isn't he cute?" She asked him, holding up a puppy someone had given them.  
He just nodded back to her. He wasn't overjoyed about it considering his past experiences with animals. He took a seat next to Relena and she immediately handed to dog to him and went for more gifts. He absentmindedly stroked it behind the ear and it licked at him on the hand. A slight smiled managed to cross his face. Relena couldn't help but noticed and thought it was so adorable.  
  
Meanwhile in the kitchen, the other pilots continued to contemplate Heero's doom. Duo actually decided it wasn't such a good idea.  
"If you think about it, he wouldn't be alot of fun if we had a party. That takes all the fun out of it for me." He admitted, causing shocked stares to come from three ways. Wufei spoke up first.  
"Well I never got a party and I think he needs to have one." He claimed.*** (Ep. 0)  
"Well I never got one either, so lets not ruin the tradition okay." Duo answered. Trowa just stood up resolutely.  
"This isn't worth discussing anyway, if Heero doesn't want one we can't force him to have one." He ended his side of the conversation and went to join the others. That pretty much ended the entire conversation all together.   
  
Later that afternoon Hilde and Duo got stuck on clean up duty since it was their place. "Well that was fun." She said happily. He just nodded back, finding the whole thing ironic. He didn't have any fun at the party and yet here he was cleaning up the mess. "Hey Relena mentioned it to me so I should ask you while I'm thinking about it. Have you worked on your speech yet?" She asked him, causing him to look her way.  
"What speech?" He said scratching the back of his head. She gave him such a look, he turned away quickly. "Duo Maxwell!" The tone was enough to get his attention. "What speech? The one you have to give at the reception dinner. That speech. I have all this stuff to do and all you have to do is write one little speech and you haven't done that yet." She sounded very exasperated.  
  
"Don't worry, I can get something together. It's not too hard to write something up about Heero anyway. He's pretty much half a page summarized." He explained, causing her to calm down a little bit.  
"Okay then, you have an entire month to do nothing, so you better get it done." She warned him.  
"Yes Ma'am." He grinned, getting back to cleaning.   
  
***@--The*Wedding--@***  
  
(Okay so maybe it wasn't the actual wedding, more like the reception afterwards.) As Relena looked out among the crowd in the room, she realized that most of them were people who knew the bride more then the groom. But most of them were 'colleagues' from her line of work. Most of Heero's close friends were in the wedding party. Everyone seemed to be having a good time though, which was nice. She glanced down the table at everyone. Duo and Hilde were sitting next to Heero and herself. Then there was Quatre and Dorothy. Zechs and Noin sat on the other side of Relena along with Trowa and Catherine.   
  
The ceremony had gone better then expected. Heero actually showed up and Duo managed to remember to bring the rings. Although he had Heero worried for a split second beforehand. On the way down the aisle, Hilde almost tripped but managed not to, Dorothy practically cried through most of the ceremony. As did Catherine but she kept it to herself about how beautiful everything was. Dorothy on the other hand, wouldn't stop mentioning her hopes to one day marry someone who was strong and possibly a soldier. All of this was told to Quatre and all he could do was blush and nod back. She even mentioned maybe a former Gundam Pilot and he suggested Wufei and tried to get away as quick as possible at that point. But as far as Wufei was concerned this entire thing was meaningless and kept muttering to himself of how shocked he was that Heero went through with it.  
  
They had hired a DJ for the reception and Duo swore they wouldn't get through the dinner before he kicked the guy out. Too many mushy love songs that had no affect on Heero as it was. He simply yawned and placed his hands behind his head, closing his eyes. Relena glanced over at the groom. She couldn't tell if he was bored or just didn't know what to do now. On occasion he would tug at his top button, which seemed to be bothering him throughout the day. Actually now that she noticed it most of the wedding party seemed kinda bored. Catherine was jabbing her butter knife into the remaining piece of cake on her plate, while Quatre was actually slouching as Dorothy talked his ear off. Trowa just sat silently so she couldn't tell if he was bored or not. She finally leaned back in her seat to get Duo's attention to start his speech. He tapped on his glass to get everyone's attention. Once they all quieted down he started.  
  
  
"Okay I wasn't sure how to start this speech and I'm not very good at them either so bear with me." He began, hearing a couple of moans from around him. he narrowed his eyes then quickly grinned and continued.  
"I'd like to say that Heero and I have had a wonderful friendship and that it's always been nice knowing him but I'm not going to lie about it. It all started when he was going to shoot Relena. At the time, I figured she was kinda cute and worth saving so I had to shoot him first. And from there on we've been either teamed up or completely against each other. It makes things interesting." Heero muttered under his breath. "Get on with it Duo." He was trying to remind himself why he had decided on him as a best man.   
"Anyway, I hope that Relena and he will be happy. Considering all they've been through together, I don't think things can get any worse. I think they'll be good for each other. Relena will help Heero actually smile more and knowing him, he'll show her how to fire a gun properly." He added, causing Heero to grin slightly at Relena.  
"That's never going to happen." She told him, pointing her finger at him.  
"I had a whole lot more to say but someone decided to edit my notes so I'm done here." Duo ended, glancing at Hilde as he sat down. A large group of girls from the back stood up and applauded loudly. Heero and Relena squinted to see who they were.  
"I didn't invite them." Relena mentioned, waiting to see what Heero would say.  
"Me either. Hey aren't they the girls from that one school I attended with..." His sentence went unfinished as Duo grinned even more while the girls continued to applaud him. Heero glared at him.  
  
"YOU invited them, didn't you." He declared. He confirmed his suspicions when Duo smiled innocently at him.  
"You needed some excitement here today and besides they like me." He explained, standing up to try and quiet them down. There was a sudden yank at his hair and he fell behind the table. Heero and Relena stared in shock first at Duo and then at the girl sitting next to him. Hilde sat there with her arms crossed infront of her.  
  
"You deserved that. I can't believed you invited a bunch of cheerleaders." She scowled. The girls heard her and responded.  
"Hey we're not cheerleaders." They objected, causing Hilde to stand up quickly.  
"Be Quiet!!! He's already taken!!!" She actually yelled out then decided that Relena wasn't really enjoying this. If Heero wanted to hurt Duo later he had her permission to do so. She settled back in her chair and glanced over at Relena who was trying to conceal her smile behind her hand. Duo's hand came up onto the table and he slowly got back up into his chair.  
  
"Yah didn't have to go pull a stunt like that." He groaned, rubbing the back of his head. Hilde turned away from him, her arms still crossed. Quatre decided to go next.  
"I'm so happy that Heero finally asked Relena to marry him. We've all been hoping for this to happen for so long." He told everyone. Relena leaned on her one elbow and sighed.  
  
"I've waited the longest." She said under her breath. Heero looked her way and she straightened up. Neither of them heard the rest of Quatre's speech and then most of Dorothy's but that was okay since her speech was the longest.   
"You still haven't mentioned where we're going after this." She reminded him.  
"And I'm not going to tell you either." He ended the short conversation. Once everyone finished with the speeches and more presents were opened, Relena glanced at her watch to see what time it was. It was later then she thought. She tapped on her glass politely but no one noticed. She stood up and cleared her throat but once again the noise was louder then she was. Heero finally stood up.  
  
"Hey! She wants to say something." He finished and sat down after that.  
"Oh, well we just wanted to thank everyone for coming today. It was such a wonderful day and we hoped everyone else enjoyed it too. It was so nice to see all our friends here..." She trailed off when she noticed the large group of girls again in the back. "And some new faces too. I guess since it is getting pretty late, that it's time to wrap things up now." She decided, looking down at Heero. "Did you want to say anything?" She asked, so only he could hear her. He got up quickly.  
  
"You can all leave now." He said firmly. Relena shot him a surprised look.  
"If you want to. We've got a shuttle to catch." He said, covering up his abruptness. She smiled at his effort. Some of the wedding party as well as the bride and groom headed outside for a couple last pictures, then Relena and Heero got into their car. Relena waved goodbye before they pulled out and headed for the spaceport. Everyone else walked back into the reception hall. Most of the guest had left as well by the time they got in there.  
"Well that was nice but now we're stuck with the mess again." Duo sighed. Quatre just smiled to himself and began helping Noin clean up.  
  
"That was so much fun. More people we know should get married." Catherine said, getting a hold of all the balloons around the room. Quatre glanced over sheepishly at Dorothy. She sat on one of the tables with her finger in her mouth. She had apparently been eating some frosting off her piece of cake. She was smiling at him and he nervously looked away. Duo came up behind him and leaned on his shoulder.  
  
"Well let's see whose left." He grinned, causing Quatre to blush and become nervous. "There's Trowa and Wufei (although I don't see him marrying anyone anytime soon). Who else...mmm..Oh yeah and there's you Quatre." He mentioned. Quatre quickly pushed him off his shoulder and went back to work.  
"Oh stop it Duo. Everyone knows I'm too busy for that anyway." He reminded him, hoping that would end there. Duo leaned over to Trowa.  
"It's sad, he doesn't know who caught the bouquet yet does he." He told Trowa, who merely nodded his agreement. Quatre glanced over at Dorothy once more and she held it up happily and grinned widely at him. He practically turned white and nervously looked away.  
  
"It's not that bad. I should know after all." Duo said, trying to sympathize with Quatre. Hilde turned her head his way.  
"Oh and what does that mean?" She demanded, as he hid behind Trowa.  
"Trowa, save me." He said, hoping for Trowa to change the subject or something. He just casually stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked off.  
"I'm not getting in the line of fire." He stated as he walked away. Wufei decided he wanted to watch Duo get it again. Dorothy snuck up next to Quatre and leaned into his ear.  
  
"Well, what do you have to say about all this?" She asked, causing him to practically jump from her being so close. He backed away, trying to think of what to do.  
Noin jumped in between them.  
"Down girl. Just get back to work and leave him alone." She ordered. Dorothy flipped her hair behind her shoulder, like a snob as she turned away.  
"No fun." She sniffed, leaving. Quatre let out a sigh of relief.  
"Thank-you Miss Noin." He told her and she smiled back.  
"Don't worry about it. I just don't particularly like her that's all. She can be pushy." She added, going back to work. It didn't take them very long to clean up once Hilde stopped chasing Duo and Dorothy left Quatre alone. Once they were finished with the task, they all went their separate ways. 


End file.
